Spanish profanity


The Spanish language employs a wide range of swear words that vary between Spanish speaking nations, and in regions and subcultures of each nation. Idiomatic expressions, particularly profanity, are not always directly translatable into other languages, and so most of the English translations offered in this article are very rough and most likely do not reflect the full meaning of the expression they intend to translate.

Overview

As in most languages swear words tend to come from semantic domains considered taboo such as the domains of human excretions, sexuality, and religion. As in most languages, in Spanish swearing serves several functions in discourse.
Spanish insults are often of a sexual nature, taking the form of implying a lack of sexual decency if the insulted person is a woman or implying a lack of masculinity if the insulted person is male. A particularly forceful Spanish insult is any mention of someone else's mother, including also in its strongest form.
Emphatic exclamations, not aimed to insult but to express strong emotion, often include words for sexual relations or to excretions or sexual organs. Sexual taboo words that describe a masculine sexuality may be used in a positive sense.

Chingar

chingar—originating from the Basque verb txingartu, meaning "to burn with coal" or from Caló word čingarár, meaning "to fight". In the work La Chingada, it was famously applied to La Malinche, the mistress of Hernán Cortés.

Chingado/da

The word is derived from "chingar" which means "to fuck", which came from the Romani language word for "fight" used by the Gitanos. This word has many meanings in the Spanish language, most limited to Mexico:
  1. Adjective for damage
  2. Noun for a bad place to go
  3. Interjection
  4. Adjective for awful
These words are often used in the following contexts:
  1. "¡Hijo de la chingada!" "Son of a bitch!"
  2. "¡Chingada madre!" = "Shit!" or "Fuck!"
  3. "¡Vete a la chingada!" = "Go fuck yourself!" or "Go to hell!"

    ''Chingón/a''

Like chingado, the word comes from chingar. When used to describe a person, it describes someone who likes to fight, or a .

Follar

follar—used particularly in Spain and to a lesser extent in Cuba, but rarely found elsewhere. Follar literally means "to blow air with the bellows" and probably refers to panting during sex.

''Joder''

The verb joder/joderse is a harsh way of saying "to bother" and its English equivalent is "fuck". It can literally mean "to fuck somebody" e.g. anoche, Juan y su novia jodieron, or it can mean "to annoy", "to ruin", etc. no me jodas, or lo has jodido. It can be used as an adjective, like the English "fucking" and is often used as a light interjection: ¡Joder! Olvidé mi abrigo.
Alternative ways of referring to sexual intercourse include: follar, echar un polvo, coger, chimar, pisar, culear and cachar.

Remojar el cochayuyo

Remojar el cochayuyo —used in Chile The expression alludes to the cochayuyo algae that is harvested on Chile's coast. The algae is preserved by sun-drying. To be used for cooking, it then needs to be softened by soaking in water.

Cojón

Cojón is slang for "testicle" and may be used as a synonym for "guts" or what it takes", hence making it equivalent to English or.
A common expression in Spain is anything to the effect of hace lo que le sale de los cojones, meaning "does whatever the fuck he/she wants". Variations are sale de los huevos, sale de las pelotas, etc. A common Basque catchphrase is los de Bilbao nacemos donde nos sale de los cojones.
Sometimes, to denote obnoxious or overbearing behavior from someone else, idiom tocar los cojones/huevos/pelotas/... comes to play. For instance: Venga, dame eso y para ya de tocarme los cojones It can sometimes be an understatement: A principios de los treinta, los nazis ya empezaban a tocar los cojones.
It is also frequent to derive other words, such as adjectival form cojonudo, indicating admiration. A famous Navarran brand of asparagus has this name.
Cojones also denotes courageous behavior or character. Acts of courage or bravery are expressed by using the word cojones. For example, "Hay que tener cojones para hacer eso".
It is sometimes used, at least in Spain, as a suffix, complement or termination to a word or name in order to confer it a derisive or overbearing quality. For instance: el Marcos de los cojones, ¡Dame ya la maleta de los cojones! However, it is more common to use "de cojones" as a superlative, as in Es bajo de cojones.
The phrases me importa un cojón or me importa un huevo mean "I don't give a fuck about" In alternative variations one would raise the number, usually to three: me importa tres cojones.
Cojones alone can also be used much like the four-word exclamations, though less usually; it is frequently a giveaway for native Catalan speakers when they speak Spanish, as collons is used much more profusely in situations akin to those for "fuck" or "shit".
Tocarse los cojones/los huevos/las pelotas/las peras stands for idleness or laziness. The fact that this is not a well-known expression in the United States may have been the excuse, according to some sources, for the April 2011 dismissal of a Princeton Spanish senior lecturer, with tragic consequences. In Chile, this term is unused; the preferred expression is rascarse las huevas.
Derivative of "cojón"English equivalent
Un cojónA lot
¡Los cojones!No way!
Costar un cojónCost a fortune
Importar tres cojonesNot mind at all
Mil pares de cojonesVery difficult
Tener cojonesTo be brave
¡Tiene cojones !To be upset about something
Cortarle los cojonesTo threaten
Tocarle los cojones aTo annoy somebody
Acojonado,-aScared
Descojonarse de la risaTo piss oneself laughing
AcojonanteVery funny / scary
¡Tócate los cojones!What a surprise!
Cojonudo,-aPerfection
De cojonesPerfectly
Por cojonesWith no other choice
Hasta los cojonesUp to the brink
Me toca los cojonesIt annoys me
Con dos cojonesBravely, courageously
Lo que me sale de los cojonesWhatever I want
No tener cojonesTo be a coward
Pasárselo por los cojonesDon't give a toss
Echarle cojones a algoTo brave something out
¡Ole tus cojones!Good for you!
Los cojones moradosCold as hell

Carajo

Carajo is used in Spain in reference to the penis. In Latin America, it is a commonly used generic interjection similar to "fuck!" "shit!" or "damn it!" in English. For example: Nos vamos a morir, ¡carajo! or a far away place, likened to hell: ¡Vete al carajo!.
In Argentina, the term "Vamos Carajo" was used in Quilmes advertising in advance of the 2014 FIFA World Cup as a statement or cheer that an Argentine supporter would use to urge their team to victory.
The diminutive carajito is used in the Dominican Republic and Venezuela to refer to children, or to scold someone for acting immaturely, e.g., No actúes como un carajito.
Caray is a mild minced oath for this word. Ay caray could be translated "Dang it" or "Darn it!" The word caracho is also considered mild like caray.
The connotation of "far away place" is supposedly based on the name of the Cargados Carajos, which belong to Mauritius. Nationalistic chants commonly use the phrase: ¡Viva Cuba, carajo!, ¡Viva el Ecuador, carajo!, and ¡Viva el Perú, carajo!
It is said that the term carajo originated during the Moorish invasion in Spain. The Moors were described as cara de ajo—or "garlic-face"/"garlic-shaped face"—which was later contracted to carajo. In some other parts, cipote can also be used.

Bicho

Bicho is one of the most commonly used references to the penis in Puerto Rico. It is similar to the much less commonly used word pinga. In most other regions it is a non-vulgar reference to an insect or several species of small animals.
In Venezuela, it can be used as an interjection. In El Salvador, it is commonly used as the slang equivalent of "kids". In Nicaragua, and some parts of Costa Rica, bicho is used to reference the vagina. In Spain and the Dominican Republic, Mexico and many other Spanish speaking countries it refers to people who are a negative influence on others, often used as mal bicho. When applied to children, it can mean one who is misbehaving.

Huevos/Pelotas/Bolas/Albóndigas/Peras

Huevos, pelotas, bolas, peras, and albóndigas all refer to testicles in a profane manner. They are equivalent to cojones in many situations. In Mexico, the word is not used in a potentially ambiguous situation; instead, one may use the inoffensive blanquillos.
Sometimes the words lavahuevos or lamehuevos are used in the same context as "brown-noser" in English.
Highly offensive Dominican insults involving this term are mamagüevo/mamagüevos and mamagüevazo. Mamagüevo is also used in Venezuela where it is considered less offensive.
Huevada/Huevá is used in Chile, Ecuador, and Peru in reference to objects. Shortened forms huevá or even weá and wa are usually intended to be less offensive. Many expressions using cojones in other countries are used in Chile with huevas replacing the former word. There's also a local expression: "¿Me hai visto las weas?" means "How much of a fool do you think I am?".
Ñema refers to the glans. The word mamañema is functionally similar to mamagüevo.
Pelotas can have another meaning when it comes to nudity. "Andar en pelotas" means to walk about stark naked.

Oversized testicles as a marker of complacency

In Mexico, huevón is a pejorative term that usually translates as "slacker". In Mexico, Panama and El Salvador it can be loosely translated as "couch potato." One may also say tengo hueva, meaning "I'm feeling lazy." In the Dominican Republic and Venezuela, güevón/güebón is the preferred form. In Venezuela, it is pronounced more like güevón and, often, ueón. In Chile and Peru, the preferred form to use is huevón and ahuevonado/aweonao. In Panama, awebao is the popular form, and a good example of the clipping of consonants in informal Spanish. In Argentina boludo can be used by young people as a culturally appropriated term of endearment, but it can also mean "slacker", "idiot", etc. In Chile, Peru and in the Quito region of Ecuador Ni cagando, huevón is a phrase commonly used among youth meaning "Don't even think about it" or "Absolutely not". In Mexico, Tenga huevos translates as "Have some balls". For example, one can hear a Mexican say No corras, ten huevos which means "Don't run away, have some balls".

Verga

Verga occurs in a number of Romance languages, including Portuguese and Italian.
In Venezuela it can be used as a vulgar generic filler, as well as a boastful self-reference. For example, ¡Soy bien verga! means "I'm very good at it!", and ¡Soy la verga andando! means "I'm the best that there is!". However, in the Venezuelan state of Zulia, the word is commonly used instead of vaina
In Mexico it refers to the penis; "Te voy a meter la verga" means "I'm going to insert my penis in you"; referring to somebody else, "Le metió la verga" or "se la metió" means "he fucked her" or "he fucked him" which may be the literal meaning, or more likely, it means that in a business, he got away with what he wanted for little money. It also have another meanings and derivative terms, for example: "Soy la verga" ; "Me fué de la verga" ; "Me vale verga" ; "Vergueé" ; "Me verguearon" ; "Me pusieron una verguiza" ; "Vergón" ; "Está de la verga" etc.
A common expression in Mexico is ¡Vete a la verga!, meaning "Get the fuck out of here!" In Mexico can be used as difficult or impossible: ¡Está de la verga!, "This is very difficult!"
In Guatemala, it also refers to a state of drunkenness as in ¡Está bien a verga!, meaning "He's drunk as Hell!" or "He's shit-faced!". In El Salvador it can also be used with an ironically positive connotation as in ¡Se ve bien vergón! or ¡Está bien vergón!, which means "It looks great!"
In Honduras, the expression no vale ni verga is used as a vulgar form of no vale la pena, meaning "it's not worth it".
In Nicaragua, the expression "¡A la verga!" means "Screw it!" which is used in Honduras also.
In the United States, the variant "a la verga" or "a la vé" for short, is very common in northern New Mexico, and is used frequently as an exclamatory expletive.

Other terms denoting male genitalia

is famous for its amount of alternative names and euphemisms for the penis. These range from the inoffensive, diuca ), through vulgar and euphemistic, dedo sin uña ) to markedly euphemistic and humorous, "cíclope llorón", "chacal de las zorras".
Something similar happens in Argentina. From the classic "pito" or "pirulín", which are innocent and even used by children, you can go all the way to the most vulgar ways as "pija", "verga", "choto/chota", "porongo/poronga", "banana", "salchicha/chorizo", "pedazo", "garcha", "palanca de cambios", "joystick", "bombilla de cuero", etc. Among young people, almost every word can be turned into mean "dick": -"¿Me pasás el encendedor?" -"¡Acá tengo un encendedor para vos!".

Concha / Chucha / Chocha

Concha is an offensive word for a woman's vulva or vagina in Argentina, Chile, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay and Mexico. In the rest of Latin America and Spain however, the word is only used with its literal meaning. In such regions, it is commonly heard in the phrase ¡ concha tu madre!, which may be used as an expression of surprise or grief, or as a highly disrespectful insult. The contracted term conchatumadre/conchetumadre is common and extremely offensive in Chile, Bolivia and Peru as well.
In Mexico concha, which is used in its literal meaning, is also a type of sweet bread, round conch-shaped and covered in sugar, as well as having the aforementioned meaning and is offensive when used in said context. In Spain, Puerto Rico, Cuba and Mexico, "Concha" is a common name for females. Also in Puerto Rico there is a popular hotel called La Concha Resort. Key West, Florida also has a famous hotel named La Concha. Concha can also mean a seashell-a conch.
Chucha/¡Chuchamadre! and ¡Chucha de tu madre! are Panamanian, Chilean, Ecuadorian, Peruvian or southern Colombian equivalents. Random examples and expressions: Vení, oleme la chucha, ¡Ándate a la chucha!.
Chocha employed term for "pussy" predominantly in Cuba, Puerto Rico, Colombia, Spain, Mexico, Venezuela, and Dominican Republic. In the Spanish province of Albacete is also used choto in the same sense. The word is a homonym as it is also synonymous with "senile" when used as "He/she is chocho/chocha". In Chile, the word is used to mean "happy", and is used for old people; for example, the sentence "La abuelita quedó chocha con el regalo que le dí" means "Granny was happy with the gift I gave her".
In Venezuela, chocha is also a type of round seed or a particular type of bird.
The name of the Latin American restaurant Chimi-Changa originated as a minced oath of chocha.

Coño

Coño is a vulgar word for a woman's vulva or vagina. It is frequently translated as "cunt" but is considered less offensive.
In Puerto Rico, Spain, Venezuela, Mexico, Cuba, Dominican Republic and Panama it is amongst the most popular of curse words. The word is frequently used as an interjection, expressing surprise, anger or frustration. It is also common to use the expression ¿Pero qué coño? to mean "What the fuck?"
Its usage was so common among Spaniards and Spanish-Filipino mestizos living in the Philippines that konyo became a Tagalog word for upper-class people.
In Ecuador and Chile it means stingy, tight-fisted, although in the latter country the variation coñete is becoming more common.

Panocha

In Mexico and the Philippines, panocha refers generally to sweet breads or cakes, or, more specifically, to a raw, coarse form of sugar produced there. It is also a fudge made with brown sugar, butter, cream or milk, and nuts. In New Mexico it means a sprouted-wheat pudding. In the southwestern United States outside of Northern New Mexico, however, it often refers to the female genitalia. Use of this word has been known to cause embarrassment among Hispanos of New Mexico when speaking with Mexicans from Mexico.
The word is a combination of penuche and panoja meaning "ear of corn", from the Latin panicula.

Cuca

Cuca is used in Honduras, Guatemala, Venezuela, southeastern México and Colombia. Slightly milder than coño, and is almost inoffensive in the Dominican Republic.
In the Dominican Republic it is a common term for a parrot.
In Chile it is criminal slang for paddy wagon. In general, it is used to refer to something considered scary.
It is also an inoffensive word for penis that many children use in Spain. It also has a slightly archaic use in Spain.
In Latin America it may describe a congenial, outgoing person with a gift for flattery or.
In Nicaragua and in the Canary Islands, it is used as slang for "penis."
It is often the diminutive of the name María del Refugio.
In Cuba, it is also used as a term for a charley horse.

Culo

Culo is the most commonly used Spanish word for "ass." In El Salvador and Honduras, culero refers to a male homosexual, while in Mexico it refers to an unjust, unkind, aggressive or insensitive person likened to the connotation provided by the word asshole but usually more offensive.
Vete a tomar por el culo is an expression used in Spain, it is like Vete a la mierda but more offensive.
In Chile and Peru, culo is considered offensive ; poto is used instead.
In Argentina culo or culito are almost innocent words, though they can also be considered vulgar depending on the context. Expressions like en el culo del mundo, en la loma del culo, which mean "too far away" or cara de culo are regularly used.
In Panama culo is used in to construct slang terms and phrases which range from slightly inappropriate to offensive but commonly used regardless. Cara de culo refers to an unattractive person especially when the person in question has a round face with protruding cheeks. Culo del mundo and casa del culo mean far away e.g. Vivo por casa del culo/en el culo del mundo lit. I live by ass house/in the asshole of the world. Culear means to have sexual intercourse—the same as fuck in its literal meaning— but does not imply anal sex.
Culito is used by younger men to refer to women in a sexual context; it is also used to refer to the buttocks in an inappropriate but affectionate way. Culo de botella refers to thick eyeglasses. ¡Ponte placa en el culo! is a phrase yelled by motorists at pedestrians who are standing or walking in the middle of the road, particularly in heavy traffic. Recular means to go on reverse while estacionarse/parquearse de recula means to reverse park. Culillo means fear while culilloso/a refers to someone who gets scared easily. Hablar hasta por el culo —a local, impolite variant of the well-known frase Hablar hasta por los codos —refers to someone who talks a lot; this variant is used to refer to a person in a negative way while Hablar hasta por los codos does not necessarily imply annoyance.

Fundillo/Fundío

Fundillo/Fundío—heard in Mexico and the southwestern United States as an obscene term specifically for the human anus. It carries about the same weight as the American usages of the words " asshole" or "the crack of ass." Fundío refers literally to the anus and is not used as a personal insult. For example, ¡Métetelo en fundío! is an expression of reproach. The variant fondillo is also found in Puerto Rico and Cuba. In the Dominican Republic, the milder term fullín and the very offensive cieso may also be used.

Ojete

Ojete —refers to the anus in some countries, and also is used to mean "asshole": Se portó para el ojete conmigo. A popular obscene graffito in Mexico among schoolchildren is OGT; when the letters are pronounced in Spanish, they sound like ojete. In Argentina and Uruguay, "ojete" and also its synonyms culo and orto can all be used to mean "good luck": "¡Qué ojete tiene ese tipo!", "Ganó de puro ojete!".

Orto

Orto —in Argentina, Uruguay, and Chile, refers to buttocks : "Qué tremendo orto tiene esa mina", "Qué cara de orto" ; or luck—either good or bad. "Me fue para el orto" and "Me fue como el orto." mean "I had an awfully bad luck on that". "Tiene un orto que no se puede creer" may mean "He/She is incredibly lucky" but can also be an appraisal of a someone's derrier, depending on context.

Other references to one's backside

Cagar, just as in Portuguese, is a verb meaning "to shit." It also means to screw up, e.g. ¡Te cagaste los pantalones!. Particularly in Spain and Cuba, there are a number of commonly used interjections incorporating this verb, many of which refer to defecating on something sacred, e.g. Me cago en Dios, Me cago en la Virgen, Me cago en la hostia, "Me cago en el coño de tu madre" is the strongest offense among Cubans. In Cuba, to soften the word in social gatherings, the "g" is substituted by the "s". See below.
In Venezuela, Costa Rica, Mexico, Peru, Argentina, Cuba, Chile and Panama it also means to make a big mistake or damage something i.e. fuck something up, e.g.: La cagaste or "Nos van a cagar.". In Argentina and Chile, it can also mean "you screwed" or "scolded" somebody. In Panama "la cagada" refers to something or someone that makes everything else go wrong or the one detail that is wrong about something ; e.g., Ese man es la cagada, La cagada aqui es el tranque.
In Mexico City it may be used ironically to refer to a fortunate outcome: Te cagaste or an unfortunate outcome such as Estás cagado meaning "you're fucked".
In Chile and Cuba, cagado means "stingy" or "miserly". It can also mean "depressed" in some contexts.
Also, in Chile it can also have a more neutral connotation. La cagó can be used to agree on a previous statement

Mierda

Mierda is a noun meaning "shit." However, phrases such as Vete a la mierda would translate as "Go fuck yourself."
In Cuba, comemierda refers to a clueless idiot, someone absurdly pretentious, or someone out of touch with his or her surroundings. Ex. "que comemierderia", "comerán mierda?" or "vamos a prestar atención y dejar de comer mierda". It is also used in both countries to describe someone who is "stuffy" and unnecessarily formal. In Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic comemierda refers solely to a snobbish person, while in Panama it refers to someone who is both snobbish and mean and/or hypocritical.
In Peru, irse a la mierda means "to be drunk as Hell." In Mexico, Cuba, Chile and also in Peru estar hecho mierda means to be very exhausted.
In northern Mexico and the southwestern United States, the phrase mierda de toro is used often as a Spanish translation of bullshit in response to what is seen by the Spanish speaker as perceived nonsense.
It is also used generally to describe anything that is vexing or unpleasant, such as tiempo de mierda or auto de mierda. A less common use is as a translation of the British profanity "bugger". The euphemisms miércoles and eme are sometimes used as minced oaths.
Caca is a mild word used mostly by children, loosely comparable to the English "poop" or "doo-doo." Comecaca is functionally similar to comemierdas.
'Mojon' A term originally meaning a little marker of the name of the street or a particular place in a road, it later went into general use to refer to a turd and thus became a synonym for shit; it is used freely as a substitute. In Cuba, the term "comemojones" is frequently used instead of "comemierda"; "Es un mojón." is also commonly used in said country.

Homosexual slurs

Maricón

Maricón and its derivative words marica and marico are words used for referring to a man as a gay, or for criticizing someone for doing something that, according to stereotypes, only a gay person would do. The suffix is -on is often added to nouns to intensify their meaning.
In Spain, Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Venezuela and Cuba the word has a stronger meaning with a very negative emphasis; akin to "faggot" or "poof" in the English language. In Argentina, Peru, Chile, and Mexico maricón or marica is especially used to denote a "chicken". In Chile, maricón also means "irrationally sadistic."
Some examples of the uses of this word are:
One important exception is Colombia, where marica is used as a slang term of affection among male friends or as a general exclamation. as in Bucaramanga marica can also mean 'naive' or 'dull' you can hear sentences like "No, marica, ese marica si es mucho marica tan marica, marica", This often causes confusion or unintended offense among Spanish-speaking first-time visitors to Colombia. Maricón, however, remains an insulting and profane term for homosexuals in Colombia as well. A similar case is seen in Venezuela, where the word marico is an insult; However, the word is widely used among Venezuelans as "dude" or "man." For example, "¿qué pasó marico?" would mean "what's up dude?" The word carries at least a third meaning in Venezuela because it often is used to show that someone is being very funny. For instance, after hearing a joke or funny comment from your friend, you laugh and say "haha sí eres marico haha" which would be equivalent to "haha you crack me up man."
Derivatives of marica/maricón:
Manflor and its variant manflora are used in Mexico and in the US to refer, usually pejoratively, to a homosexual female or lesbian. It is used in very much the same way as the English word "dyke." For example: Oye, güey, no toques a esa chica; todos ya saben que es monflora.. It can be used as an ironic term of endearment between friends, especially within the gay and lesbian communities.

Other homosexual expressions

Many terms offensive to homosexuals imply spreading, e.g.: the use of wings to fly.
With Spanish being a grammatically-gendered language, one's sexuality can be challenged with a gender-inapproriate adjective, much as in English one might refer to a flamboyant man or a transgender man as her. Some words referring to a male homosexual end in an "a" but have the masculine article "el"—a deliberate grammatical violation. For example, although maricona refers to females, it may also be used as a compounded offensive remark towards a homosexual male, and vice-versa.

Attacks against one's character

Chocho

chocho means literally a senile person, from the verb chochear.

Pendejo

Pendejo is, according to the Chicano poet José Antonio Burciaga, "basically describes someone who is stupid or does something stupid." Burciaga said that the word is often used while not in polite conversation. It may be translated as "dumbass" or "asshole" in many situations, though it carries an extra implication of willful incompetence, or innocent gullibility that's ripe for others to exploit. The less extreme meaning, which is used in most Spanish speaking countries, translates more or less as "jackass." The term, however, has very highly offensive connotations in Puerto Rico. An older usage was in reference to a man who is in denial about being cheated.
Burciaga said that pendejo "is probably the least offensive" of the various Spanish profanity words beginning in "p," but that calling someone a pendejo is "stronger" than calling someone estúpido. Burciaga said "Among friends it can be taken lightly, but for others it is better to be angry enough to back it up."
In Mexico, "pendejo" most commonly refers to a "fool", "idiot" or "asshole". In Mexico there are many proverbs that refer to pendejos.
In Peru it means a person who is opportunistic in an immoral or deceptively persuasive manner, and if used referring to a female it means she is promiscuous. There the word pendejada and a whole family of related words have meanings that stem from these.
In South America pendejo is also a vulgar, yet inoffensive word, for children. It also signifies a person with a disorderly or irregular life. In Argentina pendejo is a pejorative way of saying pibe. The word, in Chile, Colombia, and El Salvador, can refer to a cocaine dealer or it can refer to a "fool."
In Puerto Rico and Dominican Republic, it has different meanings depending on the situation. It can range from ¡Te cogieron de pendejo! to ¡Qué tipa pendeja!. In Mexico and some countries of Central America—especially El Salvador—una pendejada/pendeja is used to describe something incredibly stupid that someone has done.
In many regions, especially in Cuba, pendejo also means coward, as in ¡No huyas, pendejo! "Don't run away, chicken-shit!" or "No seas pendejo!".
In South America it refers to a person regarded with an obnoxiously determined advancement of one's own personality, wishes, or views.
In Argentina, Chile and Uruguay, pendejo or pendeja refers to a child, usually with a negative connotation, like that of immaturity or a "brat". Also, in Argentina, as "pendejo" literally means "pubic hair" it usually refers to someone of little to no social value.
In Peru, however, it does not necessarily have a negative connotation, and can just refer to someone who is clever and street-smart.
In the Philippines, it is usually used to refer to a man whose wife or partner is cheating on him.
In North Sulawesi, Indonesia, pendo is used as profanity but with the majority of the population not knowing its meaning. The word was adopted during the colonial era when Spanish and Portuguese merchants sailed to this northern tip of Indonesia for spices.
In the American film Idiocracy, Joe Bauers' idiot lawyer is named Frito Pendejo.
Burciaga says that the Yiddish word putz "means the same thing" as pendejo.

Cabrón

Cabrón, the primitive sense of the word, "cabrón" is an adult male goat and is not offensive in Spain. It is also used as an insult, based on an old usage similar to that of "pendejo", namely, to imply that the subject is stubborn or in denial about being cheated, hence the man has "horns" like a goat.
The word is offensive in Mexico, Cuba and Puerto Rico, as it means "asshole" and other insults in English. The seven-note musical flourish known as "Shave and a Haircut ", commonly played on car horns, is associated with the seven-syllable phrase ¡Chinga tu madre, cabrón!. Playing the jingle on a car horn can result in a hefty fine for traffic violation if done in the presence of police, or road rage if aimed at another driver or a pedestrian. In Mexico, "cabrón" refers to a man whose wife cheats on him without protest from him, or even with his encouragement.
The expression ¡Ah cabrón! is used sometimes when one is shocked/surprised by something. Among close friends, the term is often inoffensive; however, it is not a word to be used casually with strangers.
As an adjective it is equivalent to "tough" as "It is tough".
To some extent, it can also be used with an ironically positive connotation meaning great, amazing, phenomenal, or bad-ass. Such expressions would be said as: ¡Estás cabrón! or ¡Yo soy cabrón!. The word is quite flexibly used in Puerto Rico, and it can even have completely opposite meanings depending on the context. Best friends call each other "cabrón" in a friendly manner, while it may also be used in an offensive manner. One might say, "Esta cabrón" to describe something as very good or very bad depending on the circumstance.
In Panama, it is used as an adjective to mean something/someone very annoying. The verb cabrear can mean "to piss off ". This verb form is also used in Chile.
In Peru, cabro is a reference to a homosexual, hence cabrón is a superlative form.
The term cabrón also means a handler of prostitutes, comparable to "pimp" in English. The most common way to refer to a pimp is Spanish is by using the term chulo as a noun. In some countries chulo can be used as an adjective somewhat equivalent to "cool". The word chula is a completely benign reference to an adorable female or feminine object, as in "¡Ay, que chula!". In Chile, however, "chulo" and "chula" always mean "vulgar".

Gilipollas

Gilipollas is a term used mostly in Spain and lacking an exact translation to English; the most frequent equivalents when translated in books, films other media are "", "jackass", "", "asshole" or "buffoon", con, and boludo or pendejo.
The canonical definition of a gilipollas is a person whose behavior, speech, outlook or general demeanor is inconsistent with the actual or potential consequences of their own intellectual inadequacy. Paragons of this taxon include stupid people unaware of their own stupidity or unwilling to accept the consequences thereof, people with an ostensible lack of self-criticism, people unable to realize their own limitations, people who engage in repeated self-defeating behavior, and even a category which is seldom captured in languages other than European Spanish—to wit, people characterized by self-aware idiocy or incompetence, with this self-awareness occasionally stressed to the point of complacency.
By extension, its use in daily life is dedicated to any of the following types of people:
Occasionally it may be used for people who appear to be unpleasant or stupid out of extreme social ineptitude.
When selecting a word denoting low intelligence, most Spanish speakers have three options:
The etymology of the word itself immediately confirms its genuinely Peninsular Spanish origins and preponderance, as opposed to other profanities perhaps more linked to Latin America: it is the combination of the Caló jili, usually translated as "candid", "silly" or "idiot", and a word which according to different sources is either polla or a colloquial evolution thereto of the Latin pulla.
Perhaps due to the alternative origins of the latter part of the word, there has been some controversy concerning its status as a real profanity, although its clear phonetic evocation of the word polla leaves little room for doubt, at least in its common daily use. It is due to this that attempts at an euphemism have at times become popular, as is the case with gilipuertas. Recently, similar phrases have appeared, especially in Spain, although most of them delve much further into plain profanity.
A usual derivation of the word gilipollas into an adjective form is agilipollado/agilipollada. For example: … está agilipollado/a would mean "… is behaving like a gilipollas." Regardless of whether or not such condition or irreversible, the verb estar is always used, as opposed to ser. Another Spanish construction with similar rationale is atontado, derived from tonto.
A noun form of the word is gilipollez, meaning "stupidity" or "nonsense."

Capullo

Capullo is nearly always interchangeable with that of gilipollas. The main difference between the two of them is that while a gilipollas normally behaves as he does out of sheer stupidity, a capullo normally acts like one by applying certain amount of evil intentions to his acts. While one can act like a gilipollas without being one, in the capullo instance that is not possible. A near-exact English translation is wanker. In English to be means at the same time both the permanent/ fundamental characteristics and the non-permanent/ circumstantial ones of anything, in Spanish to be separates into two distinct verbs: ser and estar which respectively reflect the aforementioned characteristics. So, to say about anyone that es un gilipollas means that he is stupid/ annoying permanently, while to say está agilipollado reflects both his present state and the fact that it could change at any time to a non agilipollado one. This is not true for a capullo: if someone thinks about someone else that he is a capullo, he thinks so permanently, because the degree of evil he sees in the capullo's actions tends to be thought of as a permanent characteristic, inherent to the capullo's personality. So the correspondent verb ser would be used: es un capullo, and the estar verb would never be used.
Whenever used as an affectionate or heavily informal form of teasing rather than as an insult, though, capullo is used a bit more often. This may be because someone who does not have an intention to offend will resort to a lower amount of syllables, hence rendering the expression less coarse and ill-sounding. Therefore, expressions such as venga ya, no seas ___ would use capullo more frequently than gilipollas.

Buey/Huey/Güey/Wey/We/Way

Buey/Huey/Güey/Wey/We is a common term in Mexico, coming from the word buey that literally means "ox" or "steer." It means "stupid" or a "cheated husband/boyfriend/cuckold."
It can be used as a less offensive substitute for cabrón when used among close friends. Mexican teenagers and young Chicano men use this word routinely in referring to one another, similar to "dude" in English. "Vato" is the older Mexican word for this.

Joto

Joto is used in Mexico and the southwestern United States, usually pejoratively, in reference to an over-sexed male. Arguably more offensive than maricón, joto usually refers to a man who is indifferent to pertinent matters, or who is a "loser", with perhaps a hinted accusation of closeted homosexuality. For example, a gay man in Mexico might derisively refer to himself as a maricón, but probably not as a joto. Recently the use of joto in Mexico has changed, and is being embraced by the gay community, mainly as an adjective: Es una película muy jota. Not to be confused with the word jota, which refers to a traditional Spanish, Mexican or Argentine parlor dance.

Madre

Madre, depending on its usage, is an insult to one's mother. This dishonors her, and the reputation of the family. It can be profane in Mexico, where there is a cultural taboo against matriarchal families. Chinga tu madre is considered to be extremely offensive.
Madre could be used to reference objects, like ¡Qué poca madre! and Este madre no funciona. It can also be used with an ironically positive connotation, as in ¡Está de poca/puta madre!.
Madrazo, in Colombia, refers to insults in general, and "echar madrazos" means "to insult/curse somebody out."

Pinche

Pinche has different meanings, depending on geographic location.
In Spain, where Spanish originated, the word is not offensive and it mostly refers to a scullion, which is a restaurant chef assistant who is assigned to menial kitchen tasks like preparing ingredients and utensils as well as cleaning them after the cooking. It is seldom used as an insult, as in pinche güey, or to describe an object of poor quality, está muy pinche, but only to a lesser extent. Many restaurants in Spain have the name "El Pinche", to the great amusement of Mexican and Chicano tourists.
In Mexico, the saying can range anywhere from semi-inappropriate to very offensive depending on tone and context. Furthermore, it is often equivalent to the English terms "damn", "freakin'", "bloody" or "fuckin'", as in estos pinches aguacates están podridos… ; Pinche Mario ya no ha venido… ; or ¿¡Quieres callarte la pinche boca!?, but most likely should be translated to the euphemism "frickin'" in most situations. Therefore, it can be said in front of adults, but possibly not children, depending on one's moral compass. Sometimes pinchudo is said instead. It also refers to a mean-spirited person or someone who is stingy: "Él es muy pinche."..
In Chile, pinche isn't vulgar, and it refers to the people involved in an informal romantic relationship with each other. The verbal form pinchar can be translated as "kissing" or "make out". Pinchar also means "to ping".
In Puerto Rico pinche simply refers to a hairpin, while pincho has the same meaning in Dominican Spanish.

Misogyny

Polla

Polla is used in Spain, Nicaragua, El Salvador and to a lesser extent in Puerto Rico. It is also used to mean a female. Some years ago, in Costa Rica, the term jupa de pollo was popular slang for "penis". The term todo el jupa de pollo was a popular way to say "the whole shebang", "the full Monty" or "it's complete now".
In Spain, to say that something, especially a situation or an arrangement, is la polla is to have a high opinion of it. Esto es la polla. El hotel está al lado de la playa y además es muy barato means "This is fucking great. The hotel is close to the beach and it's cheap, too."
Polla in Spain also means penis.

Puta

Puta literally means whore, and can be extended to any woman who is sexually promiscuous. This word is common to all other Romance languages and almost certainly comes from the Vulgar Latin putta, although the Royal Spanish Academy lists its origins as "uncertain". It is a derogatory way to refer to a prostitute, while the formal Spanish word for a prostitute is prostituta.

Racial and ethnic derogatives

In the Spanish region of La Mancha is very common the formation of neologisms, to refer with humoristic sense to a certain way of being some people, by the union of two terms, usually a verb and a noun. E.g., capaliendres, esgarracolchas, pisacristos, and much more.